All tagged All in the Family
TV theme songs seem to go in and out of fashion, but I have always found them to be the soul of a TV show and I am ecstatically glad nowadays when shows have one. The melody and the tone of its lyrics of a TV theme song set up the viewer each week, reminding them of their favorite programs, evoking an emotional memory that draws them back into the characters and their predicaments. Recently, I was re-watching the 1970s sitcom Good Times. For those who do not know it, it tells the story of Florida and James Evans, an African-American family living in near-poverty, trying to make ends meet, in the projects of Chicago. The theme song, by Dave Grusin (music) and Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman (lyrics), is a bold and ironic statement, musing at the how everyone is “scratchin’ and survivin’”. What I never absorbed until recently is the reworking of the song for the show’s closing credits. Three lines of new lyrics sung to a more contemplative version of the melody are shear poetry, summing up the world of Good Times with economy and impact. I suddenly found myself emotional and achingly connected to show in a way I hadn’t before
The other day, I woke up and found myself humming songs from Annie (it may have had something to do with the use of “Tomorrow” in an insurance commercial), and realized that I adore so many of his melodies. Though he has had an up-and-down career on Broadway, his music is always infectious and the highlight of a show. I spent the better part of the day singing his songs while I cleaned the house, and then asked my readers on Twitter what some of their favorite Strouse songs are. I enjoyed listening to the ones you sent me and decided to make up a playlist of my favorite Charles Strouse songs. Hopefully, you will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed yours.
So many of us take television for granted, relegating it to the lowest echelons of entertainment without giving it the due for the creative and cultural force that it is. TV holds a great deal of power, being the most-accessible of all entertainment forms, besting theatre and television for price and instant gratification. With this in mind, we have to concede that television has the greatest influence on our individual and collective social psyches, shaping how we see and greet the world. TV offers opportunities for us to see how other people live, people who may not be like ourselves. Laughter is something that is also universally understood. People like to laugh, by themselves and even more so with others. It is no surprise that one of the most beloved forms of television storytelling is the situation comedy, a device for creating humor by putting characters in relatable (if often extreme) situations where they learn and grow. The greatest leaps and bounds of social change in our country have occurred when a television audience was presented with topical and challenging material though the refreshing catharsis of laughter provided by the sitcom?
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Television theme songs (and the opening credits sequences designed to accompany them) are an art form that is seldom given the careful study it deserves. In fact, theme songs are not as prevalent as they once were, producers opting to jump right into the story with the credits playing over the opening scene. Something is lost in this abrupt start of a television show, a bit of magic that may not be essential, but that certainly transports us with its melody and lyrics.
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